Life On Route 66: Personal Accounts Along the Mother Road to California

By Claudia Heller and Alan Heller

Winding through the rugged heartland of the American West, Route 66 has resonated for generations in hardscrabble stories of hopeful seekers of new homes and lives. The Mother Road has inspired books and shows by the dozens, exploring the mythology and anticipation of freedom road. But here is something new. Coauthors Alan and Claudia Heller, longtime residents of Duarte, California, along Route 66, hitched their trailer to a retirement dream and traveled the road again, in their home state and back to Chicago. They collected stories of the iconic highway, and what it means to the people who live along its way, for a series in the San Gabriel Valley Newspaper Group. Retrace their journey with this collection and find the people and places that make Route 66 truly historic.

• Language: English
• Publisher: The History Press
• Release date: May 15, 2012
• ISBN: 9781614234784

Claudia Heller

Claudia Heller grew up in Hollywood and graduated from Los Angeles City College. Living in Duarte for the past thirty years, she has served as president of the Duarte Historical Society and Museum. She writes a bimonthly column for the Star News and is coauthor with husband Alan of Life on Route 66: Personal Accounts Along the Mother Road to California. Alan Heller earned a BA degree in biology at California State University, Los Angeles. He currently serves as president of Duarte's Public Access Channel (DCTV), and is a former commissioner of the Duarte Parks and Recreation Commission, the Duarte Planning Commission, and Duarte the Community Service Commission. Margaret Finlay is the mayor of Duarte, California.